Who Are You When No One’s Watching?
If there were no checks on you and perhaps no consequences, how differently would you act?
Would you still do the work, pay the bills, put in the hours perfecting a skill, do the exercise, eat the vegetables? In fact I asked myself recently why I put so much pressure on myself to complete my work in a certain time-frame. After all, I’m my own boss. Sure there are clients I’m accountable to, but the way I do the work depends on me. So why do I care so much?
Are you like this too? Or am I going over the top here?
Because I’m not doing it for any external gratification, recognition or reward. I go beyond what I invoice, and I like it that way.
Guess what I came up with? I think it’s because I can’t help it.
Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I wish I could turn it off but then I know it will just niggle at me and distract me which isn’t good for anyone. My standard for myself is at a certain level so I simply must. It’s for my benefit alone.
And it goes beyond work.
How do we treat others who we’ll never meet again (that we know of anyway)? On the other hand are we as courteous to our nearest and dearest as we are to total strangers? I mean if no witnesses are present.
If no one will see us, do we make an effort with our appearance? Beyond hygiene and warmth?
I’m asking because everything we do or don’t do often enough becomes a habit, and our habits create the quality of our lives.
Every time we make a compromise to ourselves, we diminish something within us. We cheat our higher selves.
Because it’s never really about being our best for other people (although other people will of course benefit enormously); it’s about growth. And every time we push ourselves that little bit more we extend our spirits that little bit more. And the change can be so small and so constant that over time you don’t even notice it until it’s just the way it is. And you’re different, better than you were. More than.
Remember if you’re not growing, you’re….dying. And we’re here to live and give first. Just saying.